As a result, the conversation around mortgage lenders' efforts to serve communities identified by specific racial or cultural backgrounds have been further politicized, leaving these shops in the awkward position of determining the future of their own DEI efforts at the risk of alienating groups they aim to serve.

Lenders promoted their DEI efforts in recent years but have responded to the new administration by toning down some of that language. 

That includes the Mortgage Bankers Association, which deleted several webpages related to DEI including its Diversity, Equity and Inclusion playbook. The trade group in a statement said it reviewed its policies and programs to comply with President Trump's executive orders related to DEI programs. 

"MBA remains committed to fulfilling our members' desire for information and resources they can utilize to develop their own strategic programs to ensure that they create a welcoming environment for their workforce and can serve their customers in communities across the nation," the trade group said in a statement. 

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Companies are still touting their bona fides in reaching out to diverse mortgage consumers, but today are less outspoken about the diversity programs they appear to maintain within their walls. 

"We recognize with the current administration that there's a different approach to how D&I is viewed," said Tony Thompson, founder and CEO of the National Association of Minority Mortgage Bankers of America. 

The industry veteran, reflecting on the current political climate, said he recalls conversations he had with CEOs following the murder of George Floyd.

"It's not what you say that matters, but it's what you don't say that matters more," he said.

Why the federal government rid housing agencies of DEI initiatives

Early into their tenures, the Trump-appointed heads of the government's housing regulators cut DEI programs. Some DEI-related vendor contracts have been removed under the guise of eliminating fraud, waste and abuse and regulators, such as Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Bill Pulte, described DEI initiatives as "nonsense."

Scott Turner, secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, said in an interview with Fox News that "DEI is dead at HUD." President Trump's cost-cutting task force claims to have terminated six DEI-related contracts at HUD worth a combined $7.3 million. Turner earlier this year also rejected a disaster relief grant for the hurricane-stricken Ashville, North Carolina over a supposed DEI stipulation. 

At the FHFA, Pulte has claimed canceling DEI and climate-related efforts at the government-sponsored enterprises saved them a combined $15.4 million. Russell Vought, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, suggested the regulator would punish employees engaging in such efforts.

Lenders tone down DEI language

Much like leading depositories, a few publicly traded lenders in annual financial reports have pulled back language about their DEI initiatives they included in previous years. Some lenders when reached by National Mortgage News to discuss their DEI initiatives shared statements emphasizing their commitment to lending to diverse communities, but did not use the DEI term. 

Regarding individual companies, Thompson said NAMMBA has seen numerous lending shops mull whether they need D&I or "community outreach" experts. 

"From that standpoint, some companies have certainly eliminated those roles within the mortgage industry," said Thompson. "Some companies have looked to reframe and reshape, and then some companies have decided to step back from initiating initiatives that in their minds would help appease the regulators."

Some industry supporters stay the course

Amid some pullback, other industry stakeholders are doubling down on their commitments to diversity. United Wholesale Mortgage, the industry's top lender by volume, continues to promote DEI, including employment resource groups. The company maintained a description of its DEI activities in an annual report. 

Consumers Credit Union, based in Kalamazoo, Michigan, employed a DEI coordinator in 2022 and said its efforts are going to stick around. 

"We were doing this long before this was the thing to do, and we'll continue to do it long after any changes are made, no matter what the political landscape looks like," said Josh Summerfield, vice president of mortgage at Consumers Credit Union.

Paul Gigliotti also believes DEI initiatives are here to stay. The chief growth officer at mortgage technology firm Prudent AI in 2021 founded Axis 360 Lift, a nonprofit that placed dozens of diverse individuals across industry tech and title companies. While he said he hadn't heard of a mortgage company ending their DEI support, he acknowledged the shock wave reverberating through corporate America. 

"I don't understand why an organization would discontinue a diverse campaign or strategy," he said. "That actually hurts me more as a diverse individual, because that means that that organization, from my perspective, was not fully into it."

Moving forward with "social impact"

Amid the pullback, lenders haven't wavered from their commitment to lend to minority borrowers, who are anticipated to make up an even larger portion of the homebuying pool moving forward. New American Funding, when asked about its DEI efforts, cited its pledge to fund $10 billion in mortgages to Latinos and $20 billion to Black homebuyers in the next few years, among its other diversity initiatives. 

Thompson at NAMMBA cited a "$2.9 trillion multicultural market" that he suggested many companies are failing to tap. 

"I think many companies in our industry are failing to realize the economic, human capital and social impact that they have an opportunity to seize in this current environment, by not understanding what D&I really is," he said. 

NAMMBA in the past few years has engaged with companies to become Accredited Social Impact Lenders, a distinction Thompson described as a JD Power recognition for social impact, which less than 5% of companies in the industry have been awarded. He added that NAMMBA has shifted focus from D&I to economic, employment and business opportunities.

"We're trying to help companies understand and approach this from an economics standpoint rather than simply run away," said Thompson. "If companies are looking to grow profitability and market share, they'll have to engage and embrace whatever they want to call it: D&I, social impact lending. If not, they will be going out of business."